✦✦✦✦✦Sample review
My father read the whole case file at the kitchen counter in one sitting. He liked that it says plainly what is proven and what is only family legend.
The full investigation · A surname investigation
The Surname Case File
A full investigation into your surname, numbered and filed like a real case.
- ✦A documented investigation, not a generic summary
- ✦Origin, geography, famous names, heraldry and migration
- ✦Facts, theories and legends always kept apart
- ✦Includes a guide to the archives where you can keep digging
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Surnames to investigate
One case file per surname. The more you order, the more you save.
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A full investigation into your surname, about eight pages long: where the name comes from, its journey through the centuries, how common it is, the old country, the crossing, the name in America, notable bearers, the heraldry check and a guide to the archives where you can keep digging. Choose the digital case file (PDF), sent by email, or the printed case file, bound in our archive folder with a string closure and dated, signed and stamped by hand.
Every case file begins with a promise: to keep three things apart. What the records prove. What language and geography suggest. And what family stories tell. When something is a theory, we say so.
The digital case file is sent by email. The printed case file arrives in 5 business days, with tracking. Shipping is $14, and free on US orders over $79. Every case file comes with our 30-Day Guarantee.
Inside the case file
Look inside a real investigation
Here's The Hoffman Case File, page by page. Yours follows the same structure, with your own story.
I. The cover
Your surname, your file number and the note on how to read the evidence.
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"Every page separates facts from theories. That's what makes it a document, not just a story."
I. The cover
Your surname, your file number and the note on how to read the evidence.
Made for your name
Every surname, a different case file
No two case files are alike: origins, numbers, people and archives all change. Here are two investigations side by side.
| Hoffman The Hoffman Case File | O'Brien The O'Brien Case File | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | German: Hof and Mann, the man who ran a farm or served at a court | Irish: Ó Briain, "descendant of Brian," after Brian Boru, High King of Ireland |
| By the numbers | About 125,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 245th most common US surname | Almost 116,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 261st most common US surname |
| Where it began | Central Germany | County Clare, in the west of Ireland |
| The crossing | From Bremen and Hamburg to New York and Baltimore, 1840-1890 | From Irish ports to Boston and New York, during and after the Great Famine |
| Heraldry | Arms recorded for several separate German family lines, none for the surname as a whole | [VERIFIED HERALDRY FINDING] |
Hoffman
The Hoffman Case File
O'Brien
The O'Brien Case File
Origin
HOFFMAN
German: Hof and Mann, the man who ran a farm or served at a court
O'BRIEN
Irish: Ó Briain, "descendant of Brian," after Brian Boru, High King of Ireland
By the numbers
HOFFMAN
About 125,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 245th most common US surname
O'BRIEN
Almost 116,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 261st most common US surname
Where it began
HOFFMAN
Central Germany
O'BRIEN
County Clare, in the west of Ireland
The crossing
HOFFMAN
From Bremen and Hamburg to New York and Baltimore, 1840-1890
O'BRIEN
From Irish ports to Boston and New York, during and after the Great Famine
Heraldry
HOFFMAN
Arms recorded for several separate German family lines, none for the surname as a whole
O'BRIEN
[VERIFIED HERALDRY FINDING]
Same method. Two case files that look nothing alike.
Two investigations, two case files
Our method
Five fields of research, one investigation
Every investigation follows the same method: different kinds of expertise, real archival sources.
01 Name origins
Where your name comes from and what it means.
02 Surname geography
Where a name is found points to where it began.
03 Old records and handwriting
Reading centuries-old documents and telling the real ones from the rest.
04 Heraldry
Coats of arms and titles, checked in the records. We tell you the answer either way.
05 Migration history
The path your name traveled, from its first home to the ships that carried it.
01 Name origins
Where your name comes from and what it means.
02 Surname geography
Where a name is found points to where it began.
03 Old records and handwriting
Reading centuries-old documents and telling the real ones from the rest.
04 Heraldry
Coats of arms and titles, checked in the records. We tell you the answer either way.
05 Migration history
The path your name traveled, from its first home to the ships that carried it.
Facts, theories, legends. Never mixed.
Every story we tell keeps three things apart: what the records prove, what the evidence suggests, and what families have passed down. That line is what makes our work reliable. When something can't be proven, we say so.
Our print shop
Your case file is made here
Every case file is printed in the USA on archival paper with fade-resistant inks, then bound by hand in our archive folder with a string closure. [PRINT SHOP DETAILS] Our case files aren't run off at a copy center. They're printed with care, one name at a time, because a case file isn't made to be read once. It's made to be kept.
Every case file is checked, dated, signed and stamped by hand, bound in our archive folder with a string closure, and shipped with a certificate of authenticity.
More investigations
Complete your family's story
Each investigation lights up a different side of where you come from.
The Surname Map
Your surname across America, drawn as an old-world map: where it is found, where it is most at home and the route from the country it came from. A collector's piece, dated and signed by hand.
From $54
Create Your Map
The Couple's Surname Map
Two surnames, two family histories, one map: where each name began and the roads that brought them together. A collector's piece, dated and signed by hand.
From $69
Create Your Map
Questions
Before you open your case
About eight pages, in ten chapters: where the name comes from, its journey through the centuries, how common it is, the old country, the crossing, the name in America, famous names, the heraldry check, where to keep digging and three open questions, followed by the main sources. Some surnames have more to tell than others, but the structure of the investigation is always the same.
A rare name is easier to trace; a common one has more stories to tell. Either way, we tell you what the records show and where they stop.
We research the surname: its origins, geography and history. Your own family line takes records about your relatives, and the case file shows you where to find them.
Free sites give you a generic meaning, often copied from site to site. We research your surname from scratch, from real records, and we tell you when something is a theory or a legend.
Yes. Add a gift note at checkout, and we can ship directly to the person you're celebrating. The printed case file arrives in 5 business days, in our archive folder, ready to give. If time is short, choose the digital case file: it arrives by email, and you can print it or share it on the day.
The investigation is the same. The digital case file is a PDF sent by email, to read on screen or print at home. The printed case file is bound in our archive folder with a string closure, dated, signed and stamped by hand, and made to be kept.
We'll tell you exactly what the heraldry records say about your surname, whether the answer is yes or no. A coat of arms belongs to a specific family line, not to everyone with the same surname, so we never attach one without proof. Most families' history is found somewhere else: in the records of the lives they actually lived.
Every case file comes with our 30-Day Guarantee. [GUARANTEE TERMS: what it covers (a reprint, a refund or both), how to ask, who pays for the return.]